1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a negative pressure bandage and, more particularly, to a negative pressure bandage that allows free movement of the user using the negative pressure bandage.
2. Description of the Related Art
As known by the technician who is familiar with vacuum sealing therapy, wound healing is a process of self-repairment of skin after trauma, which may be categorized into hemostasis, inflammatory, proliferative and remodeling phases. In the inflammatory phase, some bacteria are cleaned and removed leading to the migration and division of involved epithelium or subcutaneous tissues. As a result, the blood flow may increase in order to bring about a significant amount of releasing factors for initiating the proliferation of cells. However, in the inflammatory phase, the blood flow in the damaged blood vessels may be interfered by the clotting taking place in the capillaries. In this situation, a clean treatment and a tissue reconstruction process are needed to advance the cellular proliferation. On the other hand, the wound repairment may also be interrupted due to the tissue timidity caused by serious infection of the wound. As a result, the lack of oxygen and nutrition in the epithelium cells and subcutaneous tissue around the wound may result in a poor resistance of the wound to bacteria infection, leading to a postponement of wound healing.
Therefore, in conventional study, staples or closure treatment, as well as negative pressure wound therapy, are usually used to promote the process of healing in acute or chronic wounds. Among them, the negative pressure wound therapy is used to create a sub-atmospheric pressure on the local wound environment, which shows better utility and effects.
A conventional negative pressure bandage, published in Taiwan Patent No. 200920418 and entitled “Detachable pump and the negative pressure wound therapy system using the same”, includes a top module and a bottom module. The top module includes a motor set and a top elastic member. The bottom module includes a base having an inlet and an outlet, at least one first check valve positioned in the inlet, at least one second check valve positioned in the outlet, a diaphragm and a bottom elastic member. With the first and second check valves of the aforesaid system, spent liquid can be prevented from flowing back to a wound section or the base. The motor set is adapted to push the top elastic member, and the resilience of the top elastic member is countered with the resilience of the bottom elastic member, such that the diaphragm element can be propelled to generate a vacuuming force. By incorporating the aforesaid detachable pump and a banding portion made of an absorbent material into a negative pressure wound therapy system, the spent liquid of a wound is drawn by the pump and absorbed directly by the banding portion.
The conventional negative pressure bandage above has complex elements. On the other hand, a user is limited from free movement due to the position of the detachable pump. Thus, the conventional negative pressure bandage must be removed when the free movement of the user is desired. As a result, a treatment part of the user can not be maintained in the negative pressure status, resulting in an inconvenient use of the negative pressure bandage.